good morning, and welcome to a special election edition of "this week." the obama campaign is slipping. >> we have come too far to turn back now. >> it's on. the final sprint. >> we'll win this election. we'll finish what we started. >> we're going to bring big changes to get america stronger again. >> the candidates cris cross the battlegrounds. >> we need you, ohio. >> i love colorado! >> to break this deadlock race. the big questions now -- can obama's swing state firewall stand up to romney's momentum? how will hurricane sandy shake up the campaign? and with just nine days to go, could a final october surprise send this election into overtime? questions for our headliners. top obama adviser stephanie cutter and house speaker newt

gingrich for romney. plus, insight and analysis from our roundtable. george will, austan goolsbee, nicolle wallace, gwen ifill and andrew sullivan. hello again. with just nine days to go, the october surprise is here. hurricane sandy, threatening a massive stretch of the u.s. from virginia to new england. all of the way to the great lakes. it's already caused both candidates to scramble their schedules. it will complicate both candidates' efforts to get their voters to the polls. we'll get into that, plus our latest abc news/washington post poll in just a moment. but, let's begin with sam champion from lower manhattan. he's following the track of sandy right now. good morning, sam. >> good morning, george. let me show you first, the satellite picture, which

will show you this storm is one of the largest that we have ever en in the atlantic basin. the latest out from the hurricane center, it feels exactly the same way they did for several days, making a left-hand turn for the coastline by monday. we got tropical-force winds 1,000 miles across in this storm, and hurricane-force winds about 200 miles across. it doesn't matter where this storm comes ashore, the surge is expected to be 10 feet high. let's go to matt gutman, this storm by the way is cruising by the coastline and matt at its closest point in north carolina. >> reporter: good morning, sam, it's still about 250 miles away. it's pushing these 60-mile-wind gusts right in here. this is not snow. this is seafoam. the waves out there are about 30 feet high. just beyond the coast here and it's kicking up this very

strange phenomenon of seafoam. while they're accustomed to hurricanes and storms, what they're not used to seeing is the cold combined. hour after hour, sam and george, it's been getting colder out here. the weather is intensifying. this is just a sliver of the folks up north are going to see. george? >> matt, thanks very much. this storm is a monster. now, the race for the white house. we have brand-new numbers from abc news/washington post tracking poll. as you can see, this race remains a dead-heat. we have two new polls out this morning, from those all-important battlegrounds. first virginia, president obama is clinging to a four-point lead. down from eight points in mid-september. and in what may be the consequential states of all, ohio, more signs of momentum for mitt romney. the latest numbers from a

consortium of ohio newspapers, shows the race all tied up at 49%. let's hear from newt gingrich for mitt romney and stephanie cutter for president obama. stephanie, let me begin with you with that poll out of ohio. romney coming on strong. it looks a real threat to your firewall? >> well, george, that's one poll. there have been several polls out there. we feel pretty good where we are. we're beating romney 3 to 1 in the early vote. our people are turning out and they're turning out in very high numbers. we feel good about ohio. we think we're going to win it. >> let's dig into that abc news/"washington post" poll, stephanie, it shows romney making headway on the economy. who's offering a clear plan. back in july, obama had a 16-point lead on that measure. today, it's tied. we know that president obama is focusing on that now. did you wait too long? >> absolutely not. i mean, you know, it's interesting that you're pointing out your national tracker poll

but in the virginia poll that you just cited we are beating mitt romney in terms of who do you trust to get the economy going? in terms of the president's plans, we're happy to talk about them. the president laid them out at the convention. we ran a two-minute ad on it. we have been campaigning across the country on this plan. you know, whether it's putting the best trained workers in place all over this country. bringing jobs back to this country, rather than sending them overseas or doing some nation-building at home. we're ending two wars. using that savings to do nation-building here at home. these are big plans and the president laid them out at the convention and it's a second term of an obama presidency will mean. it stands in sharp contrast to mitt romney's plans. which boils down to a tax cut that he can't pay for. we can look at these polls a million different ways. they all say something different. at the end of the day, what

we're focused on is getting the president across the country. meeting as many voters as possible. and investing in that ground game, ohio, florida, the first day of early voting in florida yesterday, record numbers of people are coming out to vote. there's a sign behind the president's re-election. there's energy on the ground. we're a little than a week out. we're confident. >> we're also seeing newspaper endorsements. president obama getting the endorsement of "new york times." several nums in ohio. the big surprise this morning, "the des moines register" hasn't endorsed a republican since 1972 richard nixon, they endorsed romney, saying that he offers a fresh economic vision. it said that barack obama rocketed to the presidency from relative obscurity with a theme of hope and change. a different reality has marked his presidency. his record on the economy the past four years does not suggest that he would lead in the direction the nation must go in

the next four years. how much does this hurt? >> they endorsed romney in the primary. this isn't much a surprise. it was surprising to read that editorial, but it wasn't based in reality. not just in the president's record but in mitt romney's record. it said that romney would reach across the aisle, but it would be the exact opposite. over the course of running for president over the last six years, he's never once stood up to the far extreme right wing. just this past week, we saw it, when he wouldn't take down his ad for richard mourdock. he's not willing to stand up when it matters. so, the fact that he's going to bring people together is just nonsense. in terms of newspaper endorsements, you know, we feel pretty good where we are. this morning, brings the miami herald, the pittsburgh postgazette, the "new york times." the toledo blade.

youngstown vindicator. i feel good. there is movement out there with people wanting a second term of an obama presidency. we feel good where we are. finally, the impact of hurricane sandy. we have seen president obama cancel trips to virginia and ohio. how much has the hurricane hindered your efforts there? >> we have to see how it goes. of course, we're all hoping that the hurricane doesn't have huge consequences for people's safety. we have taken every precaution that we possibly can. the president took down a couple of stops to stay at the white house to monitor the situation. of course, he's given every resource to state and local partners to ensure people are safe. we have to see how this goes. we're all hoping for the best and for the people's safety. >> okay, stephanie cutter, thank you very much. let's turn to newt gingrich. mr. speaker, thanks for coming in this morning.

you just heard stephanie cutter there. she believes their campaign is ahead in ohio. your response? >> well, i think y put your finger on it with "the des moines register," here's a newspaper that hasn't endorsed a republican in 40 years, now they were for obama four years ago, they switched. the fact is, the paper in florida this morning did the same thing, pro-obama, it switched. in ohio, we clearly have gained ground. i think across the country, we have. and if you look at the internals of the washington post poll, i doubt that obama will carry virginia. don't know if it's the economy or the benghazi. where we had this strange story over the weekend that the secretary of defense apparently refuse to obey the president's order, if the president is telling the truth and he instructed his assistants to get aid to benghazi, we're now being told that the secretary of defense canceled that.

i think these type of things drag down the president. you notice that he's cancelling his trips over the hurricane. he didn't cancel his trips over benghazi and you have to wonder, between benghazi, the price of gasoline and unemployment, just how much the burden the president is going to carry into this last week. >> he does have a burden. as you point, with a lot of those stories coming out. at the same time, he's built up a lead in some of these battleground states. according to a wealth polls that we have seen across the country. it raised the prospect of governor romney winning the popular vote. losing the electoral college. republicans won't exceaccept th is he right? >> i don't know what he means by we won't accept it. we're a nation of law, we'll obey the law. i think it's very unlikely that you're going to see romney win, i think he'll win around

53%/47%. very unlikely that he can win popular vote and not carry the electoral vote. carville has a rule, incumbents get the last poll. there are a lot of last polls that obama would lose 51%/49%. you go around the country. lots of states obama is at 48%, sometimes 49%, and james carville always said, you never get, if you're the incumbent, you never get a break. >> let's look at the closing arguments from president obama. he was in new hampshire yesterday taking aim at romney's record in massachusetts. >> once he took office, he pushed through a tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited 278 of the wealthiest families in the state, and then he raised taxes and fees on middle-class families. to the tune of $750 million. does that sound familiar to you? >> his argument of course

that's exactly what governor romney is going to do if he's president. >> wait a second, the fact is barack obama would trade job creation of romney as governor in a heartbeat. he would trade massachusetts under romney in a heartbeat. romney worked with a democratic legislature. you look at romney's record, it makes obama's presidency look pretty thin. the longest period of high unemployment in american history since the great depression. every person who buys gasoline today is paying $2 a gallon more because of obama's energy policies. i think obama, if he had a chance would love to have romney's record in massachusetts. >> the price of gas is going down in these final weeks. >> sure, it goes down every fall. it's still the most expensive

this time of year in america. $2 more than it was when obama became president. we're learning more about how much bankruptcies there arein solar power industry that he was taking care. that's pretty tough record to go into ohio, or florida, or anywhere, and say to folks, why don't you keep voting $2 for gasoline. >> finally, mr. speaker, you heard stephanie bring up the issue of richard mourdock in indiana, saying that it's wrong for romney to stand up for him. and say that his comments were wrong. your response? >> my response is, if you listen to what mourdock said, life begins at conception. this seems to be fixated by the democrats. but the radical on abortion is

senator obama, voted three times in allowing doctors to kill babies in the eighth, ninth month. the democratic party platform which says you should pay with your tax money for late-term abortions. something which is about 20% issue. it doesn't seem to fascinate the press nearly enough -- >> mr. speaker, what mr. mourdock said exactly, life after rape is something that god intended to happen, do you agree with that? >> he also issued a clarification that he was talking about the act of conception. he condemned rape. every decent american i know condemns rape. we all condemn rape. now, let's talk about whether we condemn killing babies in eighth, ninth month. >> mr. speaker, thank you for your time. our powerhouse roundtable is standing by. that conversation starts in just 90 seconds. econds.

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andrew all vann of the daily beast. and nicolle wallace. political contributor to abc. newt gingrich predicting 53/47 win for governor romney. stef snee cutter maintaining confidence right now. who's bluffing right now? >> both are bluffing. because no one knows at this point. what we do know is that the trends of the last few weeks favor mr. romney. the question is, what will interrupt that trend if anything? who knows? >> the question is, andrew sullivan, has the trend already been interrupted? some signs that romney's momentum peaked last week. ohio poll actually stopped polling tuesday night. >> for the last three weeks, the swing state polls haven't changed. they were the same three weeks ago. the bumps that obama got from

the second debate has stabilized. unless you know you're right, unless this abc news poll in ohio, which to me is really stark news. >> you mean the ohio poll. >> that changes the equation. the last three weeks, look at all of the swing state polls, everything in them, it's been the same race. for three weeks. >> nicolle wallace, that first debate clearly changed the narrative of this race. >> it served as a light coming on. casting mitt romney in a rather durable way. i agree that the polls in ohio is really the only one that matters. i don't buy that there's a path without ohio for romney. so, what they're pointing to this morning, what does suggest something that may be destabilizing the post-debate stability is, "the des moines register" editorial could have a ripple effect in that part of the country.

if they have polls showing them even, that could change the me mentality of the voters in ohio. they're trying to neutralize some of false attacks about the auto bankruptcy. >> that's become the big issue in ohio, the auto bailout. the other argument from stephanie cutter, 20% of voters in ohio have voted. >> and in north carolina, maryland, georgia. stephanie cutter is right about this. lot of lines on the east coast. because they're worried about sandy. but i also think you have to look at what these candidates have in front of them. they have to get out there. i never -- i talked to at lot of voters. they're all trying to figure out what they're going to do. and the candidates want to get out. but the president had to cancel a couple of virginia events. mitt romney had to cancel. where do they go?

back to ohio and colorado, i'm watching colorado carefully. where voters are really -- had gone back and forth, that's where a lot of this is going to get decided. >> austin, colorado is not going to be affected by hurricane sandy. but the other states will be affected by hurricane sandy. >> the race is fundamentally hinged on any of these things. all of the fundamentals of the economy, of the polling, of the politics of the country, point to it's going to be a razor-thin margin, we're going to be up late on election night. so, i think whether there actually able to have their events or not -- >> there hasn't a point in this election all year, at which obama hasn't had a lead in electoral college, ever, he'll have to lose it in the last week having led all year.

>> you would agree if ohio goes to romney -- >> yes, it does. >> but it's the change in romney's gain among women and that i think represents a huge recoil by professional women with college degrees against the condensation of the obama campaign which says -- austan, hang on -- essentially don't trouble your little heads about men's issue. worry about contraception, which has been a constitutional right for 47 years, it's a distraction on women. i think professional, educated women find it offensive. >> it also reveals a grave miscalculation, the obama campaign put this front and center in their convention and it had a positive effect in terms of rallying their base. may put together the obama coalition and united the women that care about

reproductive care. republicans don't need to best democrats. they just need to tighten it. they both made a gamble. but the romney campaign made a gamble that enough women cared about the economy and economic issues more than or at least as much as -- >> in the debates, obama related women's issues to family and economic issues. he didn't isolate it that way and, of course, the big elephant in the room is that romney showed up on october the 3rd like an alien ripped off his mask and said, i'm brand new now. >> but we liked him. we liked him. isn't that the point? we liked him better. >> it was like -- he has evolutionary ideology. >> you know, andrew, at this point in the campaign, all that matters is who has the last-minute enthusiasm. i don't know about the word momentum.

i think that comes fretted with meaning. i think enthusiasm. you can't argue that the republicans who have gotten a little depressed were enthused. after that debate. the president won the last two. romney won the first one and romney won all three. it's a distraction for both candidates. to aukt -- talk about the joys of bipartisan ship. >> it's a fundamental issue. when i become president, we won't have partisanship anymore in washington. for mitt romney to say i'm going to fix it, nobody believes any of that. >> "the des moines register" poll, i think that the most power argument that they end up making that could have some impact, they seem to back up this idea mitt romney has a

better chance for bipartisanship. >> i found that surprising. if you go back and look at massachusetts, mitt romney vetoed 800 bills by the democratic legislature in massachusetts. 4% approval rating when he left office. i don't know if we start peeling back on the onion on that. we got to take a quick break. lot more coming up. we'll look at the final week of the campaign and more. all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. i'i invest in what i know.r. i turned 65 last week. i'm getting married. planning a life. there are risks, sure.

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♪ who are you

330,000 people. i created jobs in america. i ran a business. i see what's going on today and i'm frightened to death. we have republicans trying to redefine rape. if you think that this election won't affect you and your life, think again. >> families had received letters from president obama that were not personalized. they were form letters. a family sacrifice a child and you choose to send a form letter to them. >> mr. romney, it's about policy. >> for us it's about defending our country. >> our freedom. >> but to trust you as commander in chief, i don't think so. >> i don't think so. >> as a veteran, i don't think so. >> sampling of the ads being run all over the country. by the candidatesallieallies. we're back with the roundtable. let's take a look at the closing arguments of the campaigns right now. george, you heard andrew talk about how we saw a different

mitt romney at the debates, that seems to be the argument that president obama and his allies seem to be making. look at colin powell this week. >> one day he has a certain stance on iraq. on monday night, he agrees with the withdrawal. same thing in iraq and on almost every issue that was discussed on monday night, governor romney agreed with the president. but this is a different set of foreign policy views that he had earlier in the campaign. >> and george, that had been an argument that the obama people had kind of shied away from earlier in the campaign. >> well, that's right. right now, that charge is really an accusation that romney can live with. which is don't believe him, as andrew said, because you might like him. i think people say, look, our last impression of him, this is your closing argument, that this is someone that we can live with.

i think the obama attack is buttressing the attack. >> agree? >> i don't agree. if you're paying attention to the policy, it has to worry you that he has bunch of stated policies in his platform, if you start unpacking them, there aren't any details and what he's saying now is totally different than what he is saying now. >> don't people normally state that. >> i don't think he flipped to a policy. i think he's basically just, he's got a thing in writing that my policy is "a." you say "a" is my policy, but it's not. >> but the problem is obama is eroding his own trust and credibility by not settling on one. you can't be wrong and coreless. i think obama has underlined his own attack by not being able to

settle on one. listen, campaigns that are exusted and stressed and they both are. but, to me, this is a little bit of a window into which campaign is feeling a little bit more battered and which campaign is enjoying a teeny bit lift in the momentum. it's coming down essentially to seven gubernatorial races, really. but i think obama has undermined his own attacks on romney by frankly flip-flopping. >> but romney was a severe conservative from january to october, and now he's a new candidate. what i'm amazed at whthat republicans don't feel -- >> but whatever it is better than obama. >> but he's supporting a massive increase in debt. his math will balloon the debt just like bush did, tax cuts, increase in spending and no details on how -- increase in defense spending and no details

about how to balance the budget and a war in iran. >> let's go back to monday. to the foreign policy debate. this is what the final message was from both of them that night. the final message from mitt romney is i can be trusted. you can trust me. let me finish. let me finish. and the president's argument was that, you can't trust him. so the president was behaving as if he was the underdog. there's no question about that. and that's what went out on the campaign trail all week now. i don't know if romney's argument really work. i don't know if people vote on the fact if they don't know what t he believes in. >> voters did think that president obama won that last debate. >> they do. they do. >> he changed his entire foreign policy overnight, who is this guy? and why are we talking about how this affects the race?

rather than we have someone who has no core at all, and has changed it a dozen times to appeal to the markethare he's talking to. >> i think it will come down to around actual argument about economics and that argument is, one side, conditions aren't that great. but they were much worse and they have gotten somewhat better. the dispute is really is, the obama people go look at romney's policy, they're exactly what george bush said in 2001. romney saying, look at what the president is for and that hasn't work. that 's the the last argument. >> george, i want to bring this to you, they have started to send out these economic plans right now. but the bulk of his message on the stump, yesterday in new hampshire, he talked about mitt romney's record in massachusetts,

a basically get out the vote message. >> that's right. they're saying romney is the candidate of change, but we don't like the change. now, andrew said, vote against romney because he would balloon the deficit. that's an odd argument for the man who added $5 trillion to the deficit. that's mr. obama. >> the recession added $5 trillion to the deficit that was caused by the previous administration. we also know that romney's policies will increase the debt. massively, immediately. >> but voters believe that obama's will do so much more harm. voters unfortunately are choosing between two men, each of whom are far from perfect, i think that's why you see a lot of -- it's very negative. >> one of whose math will lead

to balanced budgets. and one whose math will not. >> change, that was an interesting change in mitt romney's speech this week, he kept talking about big change, you want big change, i can bring you big change. what challengers do it. we heard bill clinton do it. we heard barack obama do it. certainly. the hope and change thing is now benefiting the republicans this time. >> it transcended to their signage. it really is their closing message. >> more than election census, 1980 and 1964, this is about the proper scope and actual confidence of government. it will come down to a basic feeling that people have, who understands government better? >> i think that's fair. though, it will be interesting to see, if you had a huge hurricane that affected sometimes -- >> say a huge hurricane, for example. >> either positive or negative. they can get really angry that the response wasn't really big. or they could say, whoa, do we want to be on our own when

something like this happens. >> one other potential surprise this week, we're going to get that final unemployment report coming out on friday. you're an economist. looking at the numbers right now, what are you expecting to see and how much difference will it make? >> we have seen over the last year and a half, one month's numbers don't seem to crack through the shell that much. now with that said, we had -- probably artificially too optimistic number last time, there will probably be some rebound. but at the same time, the economy has been improving. i think most people are expecting the unemployment rate not to change much. >> most believe that the country is going in the right direction. you could see jobs created and unemployment go back up. >> that could happen. >> let's look -- everybody has been talking about how close this race is right now. i want to show one ad that president obama is running down in florida and some of the other battleground states.

emphasizing how close the race is. >> 537, the number of votes that changed the course of american history. >> florida is too close to call. >> the difference between what was and what could have been. make your voice heard. vote. >> and that's why both campaigns, george will, spent so much time and effort in the last weeks, focusing on turnout above all else. >> an american tradition. woodrow wilson was elected because he carried california by fewer than 4,000 votes. this is nothing new to america. one of the beauties of the electoral college system is, we quarantined our close elections in one state. rather than pour in all of the ballots in one big poll and have litigation in every present. >> that ad is supposed to freak democrats out. remind them the worst day ever.

the day they lost the presidency. they think either because people didn't show up to vote or the supreme court didn't do what they wanted. there's a guy in washington who counts every four years, he has a very gloomy count of how many americans don't vote, he's usually correct. what both campaigns want to do right now is raise the numbers. make sure people who show up are their people. >> that's right. one of the other arguments the obama campaign makes these national polls. gallup poll has shown consistently a seven-point lead for romney. simply missing these obama voters who will get out again. >> we have two polling races. we have rasmussen and gallup in one corner. according to the gallup and rasmussen we're headed for a landslide for romney.

11-point victory, he got seven, obama. they lost last time by huge amounts. i don't know what's going on out there. george, none of us does, i think, i think it's going to be extremely close. i think, like nicolle, it's going to be about ohio, the auto bailout. of all the policies and the arguments -- >> or miscounting latino voters. or people who don't respond to hard-line phone calls. or just the science of polling. >> or the number of times i have refused to pick up my phone when i can see it's research firm. but, nonetheless, i think a nightmare frankly, maybe we can all agree on this, is that there are some electoral college/popular vote difference. >> one scenario is that it just doesn't come down to one state, like ohio, is that you got four, or five, states and each one of those five is in that circumstance and then we're in

total confusion. >> we have december 31st coming up. not like all the time in the world to make these decisions. >> you talk about ohio, they don't even count all of the absentee votes in ohio until november 16th. it will take longer than that for the provisional votes. andrew, you talked about polls. last time around, our abc news/washington post had president obama's number dead-on. 53%. now romney at 49%. talk about the possibility that governor romney wins the popular vote and loses the electoral college. >> this is our 57th presidential election. in 52 at least, the popular vote and the electoral have coincided john quincy adams. hayes in '76. bush over gore in 2000. that's not a bad record. 52 out of 56.

i wouldn't worry about it so much. >> or 2 out of 3. >> i think 2000 was a moment of great crisis in this country. i think a lot of the polarization in this country, after that, with 9/11 is what caused this country to be what i call a cold civil war. >> it could become even more partisan after that. to pick up on andrew's point, this will all be facing as we the deadline when the tax increases would hit and spends cuts take place and approaching the debt limit. >> this is part of romney's closing arguments. the stakes are too high. romney is running as a guy who can fix big problems and this is what i think is helping to fuel his surge in the final days, that, and i think this is also why people aren't as disturbed that his positions tend to evolve. people have low views about the competence of government. if they know one thing about mitt romney, is he's the guy who

turned around the olympics and can get things done. >> with the federal government funding. >> well, look. >> you can't say you're a turn-around artist when you're saying you're relying on federal funds. >> we're also a huge racial gap, 6 out of 10 voters, white voters voting for romney. about 8 out of 10 minorities voting for president obama. >> an associated press poll came out this weekend, majority of americans still admit, this is a computer online poll, people, i guess, are honest on the telephone poll, still admit racial basis. very tight race, if that affects 5% of the vote, that could affect the outcome as well. i don't think most people like to think that way. but i don't think that you can ignore it. it would be naive to ignore as a factor. >> if virginia and florida go

back to the republicans, it's the confederacy, entirely. you got the civil war. >> you're rolling your eyes, george. >> am i wrong? >> you are and i'll say why. democrats have been losing the white vote constantly since 1964. so, that's not new. >> john kerry lost the white vote. >> that's right. 2008, from obama, gets that many white votes. this time, the polls indicating that he may be getting this many. we're trying to explain this difference. now, two possible explanations lot of white people who voted for obama in 2008 watched him govern for four years and said, not so good, let's try someone else. the alternative, the confederacy theory, in the last four years, they became racist. >> that's not my argument at all, george. >> it sounds like it. >> no. i'm pointing out the fact that the white people changing their

minds happen to be in florida and virginia. if you look at the map -- they were the only two states in the -- let me point out -- southernization of the republican party. they were the only two states in 2008 that violated the rule. >> a statement that's checkable and false. that people -- white people moving away are in those two states. >> and a lot of them were republicans. >> look, one more time, this could be ohio, that's where president obama is focusing on, the white male vote in ohio. we'll see if that holds up. we got to take a quick break. we'll talk about the senate when we come back. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan.

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in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger. ♪ oh we're not going to take it ♪ >> if you're going to comment on my record, i would at least have you refer to it. excuse me. we're not -- excuse me, i'm not a student in a classroom. please let me respond. >> george, you said when you were governor, you enjoyed knocking it down their whiny throats. >> senator, you're a liar. you were lying to the people of state of ohio, you were falsely attacking me and i won't stand for it. >> senate debates getting heated in these final days. we're back with our roundtable.

george, will before i come to you, this map shows 16 tos-up races right now for the senate. reminding everyone, if president obama wins, republicans needs to pick up four senate seats to gain control. if romney wins they need to pick up three. >> all politics is local. this year may be no politics is local. a national trend. all of the marginal states tip the same way. they did in 1982 and some other years. no one knows at this point. but the republicans going in, defending only ten seats, attacking 23, it should have been easier for them than this. >> one of the questions is, ndrew sullivan, so much discussion it turns out on rape with akin and mourdock. complicate the republican efforts to gain control. >> that's interesting. will the republicans interpret their results in the senate with their function of them moving way far to the right? which is the center of the party at this point.

if they interpret that, there might be hope. i'm supporting president obama to keep the republican party from being completely insane. but, mourdock and akin are the lead stories. they lose than -- >> they're not the only stories, nicolle, aiken may cost them a senate seat in missouri. probably will. >> there's this senate seat in connecticut with mcmahon coming on. >> she's not so crazy. vote for president obama and vote for me. i understand from folks involved in the senate race on the national level it's working. it's tightened her race. it's remain pretty tight the whole time. the other thing about connecticut is when our lights go out they stay out. it's like, you know, the dark ages, literally, so this may be

a state where we can actually evaluate after the fact the ground game. >> i have interviewed both todd akin and richard mourdock. both of them are speaking to their states, missouri and indiana, who respond to what they say. who believe that life believes at conception. they're not -- they didn't like what akin said about rape. but they were willing to forgive him for it. that's why those races are closer. akin is not out of it and mourdock is not out of it. you may disagree. i'm talking about what it takes to get these senate candidates elected. >> what race are you watching. >> i'm in chicago, i'm watching that indiana team. because it's on our tv. it's surprisingly close.

but i think george's insight is really the strongest one to think here that, we got a bunch of races, they're all close, you don't know what's going to happen, they're not independent. i think george's insight at what happens at the national level is probably going to carry on the final momentum. is true. >> that could affect, george, the races in places like virginia, montana, north dakota, where republicans had been behind but there's momentum for governor romney. >> i would also pick wisconsin, for the following reason, in 2010, when the country moved to the right, no state moved more emphatically to the right than wisconsin. then they tried to recall the governor and the governor to fight that created a huge infrastructure that stayed in place. now, wisconsin has voted democratic in five consecutive presidential elections. bush lost it by two tenths of a

percent. but five straight times, this could be the year when the republicans win there now. tammy baldwin, very liberal, and tommy thompson ran negative campaigns. the coal state hates both of them. but, therefore, the neutralizing their negatives, this may be the real bellwether. to underscore that point, they're running ads in minnesota to hit the wisconsin voters. thank you all very much. for all of you at home, austin and gwen are standing by to answer your questions on twitter. and now, we pause to honor our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. this week, the pentagon released the names of four soldiers killed iafghanistan.

and we'll be back in a moment with the latest on hurricane sandy from sam champion. t on hurricane sandy from sam champion. spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. information on my phone. connection to doctors who get where i'm from. and tools to estimate what my care may cost. so i never missed a beat. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving.

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athat's what the plan georged. allen supports... a real difference. would cost our economy. newspapers called it "economically destructive." like allen's votes to give tax breaks to companies... that ship jobs overseas, his economon plan would... help bigorporations, devastating the middle class. allen even voted against tax breaks for small businesses. virginia can't afford to go back to george allen. the democratic senatorial campaign committ.ee... is responsible for the content of this advertising. and before we go, let's check in one more time with our weather editor sam champion for the latest on hurricane sandy. sam? >> good morning, again, george. we're looking at the very latest from the hurricane center.

what folks should know this morning, nothing has really changed. this storm is still on track to be a major hitter, anywhere from washington, d.c., all of the way up to maine. let's show you this satellite picture, this is amazing. clouds extend from the carolinas to canada. one of the longest storms that we have seen in the atlantic basin in size, take a look at track. left-hand turn by monday morning, making landfall on the jersey shore by the time we get to tuesday morning. it's rough storm. >> you'll be on top of it. thanks, sam. that's all for us today. thank you for sharing part of your sunday with us. for all of the latest on hurricane sandy check out abcnews.com. check out "world news" with david muir tonight and i'll see you tomorrow on "good morning america." i got it when my internet here was faster than at my office.

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